Logs & Stories - April 2002

April 26th - Caleta Partida

(Email from Bill & Karryn via Maritime Mobile Radio Service)

Today dad and I went to Los Islotes on Amazing Grace with some other people It was really cool, but the little fishies kept looking at me really closely and a male sea lion that went under me freaked me out. Even though it is really cool, I have a warning for all cruisers planning to go here: no spear fishing allowed. I learned this when dad tried to kill some fish and a guy in one of the tourist pangas told him that no killing was allowed. There were even some coral and enormous sea urchins. We saw an enormous sea lion way bigger than the rest and once a bunch of sea lions swam with us. There were no injuries and everything turned out great. One of the few problems was the bubitos (little black flies that tend to stick around islets with bird poop on them) that were annoying until we got in the water. Before Amazing Grace re-anchored we stopped at the reef at the entrance of Caleta Partida. Dad spearfished and even though he poked six he only got one little parrotfish. Even though the hike to the volcano had to wait a day, I'm still having a great time.

Jackson

April 16th - La Paz, Mexico

(Email from Bill & Karryn via Internet Cafe)

We arrived back in La Paz late yesterday afternoon after three terrific weeks in the Sea of Cortez between La Paz and Loreto. Each of the six anchorages we were in was spectacular, varying from remote roadsteads where we were alone, to small villages. Along the way we met quite a few people, and rarely ate dinner alone. The feel of the Sea is quite a contrast with the San Juan Islands: the coves have the same secure feel, but the plant life is minimal and the other cruisers are quite a bit friendlier. In all the years we've cruised the San Juans we've never had an impromptu dinner with strangers, but here it's become a standard operating procedure. Great fun, and the food ends up being amazingly good.

We've been having an ongoing conversation about where to spend the summer (Polynesia, Sea of Cortez, mainland Mexico or Central America), and it looks like we're a little closer to a decision. Our trip north was so delightful that we're thinking of heading up to Bahia Los Angeles for hurricane season.

Two days ago we discovered a small leak (barely a drip, really) at the aft end of the centerboard trunk, and the repair will require that we haul the boat, mostly likely in La Paz. Our current expectation is that we'll spend the next week sorting things out (with a little trip back to Isla Espiritu Santos for a few days at Sea of Cortez week), then pull the boat for a two-week haulout. After that we'll make our final commitment for the summer, stock the boat and take off.

We'll keep you posted.

Bill

April 10th - Los Gatos, Mexico

(Email from Bill & Karryn via Maritime Mobile Radio Service)

We have returned to Los Gatos, ostensibly on our return to La Paz for the next HAM test on April 17th. However, there are innumerable reasons to stay right where we are. Nick and Maggie on Wanderlust left yesterday, and we thought we would move on today. However, Matthew on Evergreen II and Travis and Emily on Mystery Tramp showed up mere hours after Wanderlust's departure. So we're here for at least another day... *sigh* It's tough being in paradise.

Today we do have work that needs to be done, above and beyond the daily chores of meals, dishes, school, housework, etc. (these alone can take up the whole day). Otherwise we'll never finish provisioning in La Paz because we'll be doing all the stuff we need to keep working on now. Los Gatos is beautiful, all the beaches are great playgrounds for adults and kids alike, the snorkeling is fantastic -- the water is clear enough to follow the trail of the anchor chain around and watch the puffer fish hanging out on the bottom under the boat. Lots of distractions before you even consider the social interactions with other cruisers, which can ruin the best of intentions to finally get that project started -- or completed -- today.

We're having such a good time in the Sea of Cortez that we are leaning more heavily towards spending the summer here. If we do, I'm sure there will be times we regret living in an oven. However, I've enjoyed the time we've spent up here enough to seriously consider it. It's been nice to have days where we're not running from dawn until dusk getting stuff done and not getting enough sleep. It's nice to be places long enough to connect with the locals and have a regular routine, including more school for the kids. There will be some onerous chores to complete to stay here, bureaucratic hoops to jump through included, but... it would nice to keep the rhythm going that we've had the past ten days, where we actually get to have some fun.